The 1940’s Dermot Looney @dlooney
From Junior Champs to Senior Ranks Pat’s second season in Richmond Park, 1940-41, saw the club rise to national prominence for the first time. They came runners-up in the League but made it through seven rounds to qualify for that year’s FAI Junior Cup final at Dalymount Park against Galway Bohemians. Patrick’s lifted the trophy with a 2-0 win. The following four seasons saw three more place finishes and a third place in the League. The Cups saw more success; 1941-42 saw the Athletic defeat their Richmond Park ground-share rivals St Paul’s in the final of the Edmund Johnson Cup (the League Cup for the LSL Division II). In 1942-43 the Saints finished runners-up in the FAI Area Cup (a regional curtailment of the FAI Junior Cup). In 1944-45, Patrick’s secured their second Leinster Junior Cup along with the Saxone Cup (a competition for top junior teams). The Emergency was very much in evidence in the form of their final opponents; the 44th Local Defence Force and the Aer Corps, respectively. A minor team who emerged in 1943-44 had a significant impact, winning the national FAI Minor Cup and AUL Minor Cup in 1944-
45. One of their players was a young Jimmy “Timber” Cummins who went on to star for the first team in the years ahead. Having finished in the top three in the previous six seasons without winning, Pat’s had a remarkable return to winning ways in the late 1940’s. First up was a longawaited League championship in 1945-46 with a 2-0 playoff win at Tolka Park against 44th LDF. Promotion followed to the top tier of the Leinster Senior League, with the Saints making a creditable debut in the LSL Division One in 1946-47, achieving third place. But more was to follow. 1947-48 saw a team known by some as “the greatest Pat’s team of all.” This side won a remarkable treble of Leinster Senior League Division One, FAI Intermediate Cup and Leinster Senior Cup. The LSC campaign saw the Saints beat Shelbourne and Bohemians of the League of Ireland on the way to the final. “David and Goliath Clash…Shels Bow the Knee to St Patrick’s…How are the mighty fallen” went the newspaper report for the former. Pat’s defeated fellow LSL team Transport in the final by 3 goals to 2.
That season also saw the Saints’ first entry into a competition which has helped to define the club – the FAI Senior Cup. Remarkably, they reached the semi-final stage before being knocked out by eventual winners Shamrock Rovers. The following seasons saw the club’s status grow and grow. A second double in a row came in 1948-49 with a LSL Division One win accompanying the FAI Intermediate Cup. Pat’s sent national shockwaves with a Round One defeat of holders Shamrock Rovers in the FAI Senior Cup before being knocked out in Round Two. A third LSL win in a row came in 1949-50 along with runners-up medals in the FAI Intermediate Cup. Another strong FAI Senior Cup run saw the Athletic defeat LOI giants Shelbourne in Round One and AOH (later Cork Hibs) in Round Two, before taking League of Ireland winners Cork Athletic to a replay in the semi-final. By this stage Pat’s had applied for membership of the League of Ireland. Their initial application was refused but it was only a matter of time before they were accepted into the elite of Irish football.
Honours League titles
4 (LSL Division II 1945-46, LSL Division I 1947-48, 48-49, 49-50)
National Cups
3 (FAI Junior Cup 1940-41, FAI Intermediate Cup 1947-48 and 48-49)
League Cups
1 (Johnson Cup 1941-42)
Leinster Cups
2 (Leinster Junior Cup 1944-45, Leinster Senior Cup 1947-48)
Other Cups
Saxone Cup 1944-45, FAI Minor Cup 1944-45, AUL Minor Cup 1944-45
2020 Season • Vol. 32 • No. 3 • St Patrick’s Athletic v Derry City / Finn Harps
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